Your Place in God’s Masterpiece – Inspiring Stories

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good

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story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with God.

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I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America and International,

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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I want to thank my faithful listeners who have supported our Widow and Orphan Fund.

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From time to time, I share stories of those we've helped through that fund and I'm blessed

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to be able to share one with you now.

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Lois lost her husband Paul recently when he was hit by a speeding van as he was making

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ministry visits on his motorcycle in Kenya, leaving behind Lois and his three teenage

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daughters.

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Paul was the director of a seminary located in a rural area that trained village pastors.

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Lois left her job and life in Nairobi when they married not quite two years ago.

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Tragedy is not a stranger to his three girls who lost their mother from an extended illness

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when they were young, but God graciously brought Lois into their lives before calling their

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father home.

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Lois who's in her early 30s is now the sole caregiver of these three girls.

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While they still have a home and the cost of living in rural Kenya is fairly low, roughly

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only $300 a month, her $25 a month income from working in the seminary kitchen is really

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not enough to support them.

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But thanks to many of you, we are providing Lois and her girls a safety net by supporting

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them monthly for a full year.

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She is overwhelmed with appreciation and relief knowing they can survive while they process

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their grief and seek the Lord for direction.

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Please pray for Lois and the girls as they continue walking through this very difficult

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season.

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We know God's watching over them and he's using us as a part of their care.

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So thank you.

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This new year is the year the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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I expect to see God doing great things this year.

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Of course, he's always at work, but often we don't see or recognize what he's doing.

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This year, however, I believe the veil is coming off our eyes, so we will recognize the amazing,

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amazing things he is doing in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

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And whatever God does, we can be sure that his work will turn out a masterpiece.

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The 18th century English writer and polymath John Ruskin said, When love and skill work

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together, expect a masterpiece.

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And dear ones, there is no one more loving or more skilled than our great God.

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One of my all-time favorite scriptures is Ephesians 2-10.

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I'll read primarily from the New Living Translation in this episode today, and that verse reads,

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For we are God's masterpiece.

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He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us

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long ago.

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I just love that.

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God was thinking about you and he was thinking about me long before we were even born.

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And he has planned good things for us to do.

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He has good things for you and me to do this very year.

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It fits with another one of my favorite scriptures, Jeremiah 29-11, which reads, For I know the

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plans I have for you, says the Lord, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to

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give you a future and a hope.

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Now I want to give you a little context here.

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God made that promise to the Israelites when many of them were exiles in Babylon living

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under a cruel and harsh overlord.

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Those who were still living in Jerusalem were awaiting death and destruction from the Babylonian

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army that was ravaging every nation around them.

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In the midst of very confusing and even terrifying times, God said he has good plans for them.

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Of course, verses 12 and 13 of Jeremiah 29 tell us how those plans will come about.

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In those days when you pray, I will listen.

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If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

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So really, no matter what the circumstances are around you and us, when we look to the

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Lord wholeheartedly and pray to Him, His good plans are worked out for us.

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And we have a role in that.

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Doing the good works He created in advance for us to do.

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And God's good works that we do make a difference.

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How can that be, you might ask?

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You might say, I'm just a mom, just a nurse, just a wife.

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I just have an insignificant job in the grand scheme of things.

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But let's take a step back and look at God's grand masterpiece, which is the Body of Christ.

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We are each individually a masterpiece, certainly, but the Body of Christ together is God's

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amazing masterpiece that has inner workings that will only be understood in eternity.

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The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, 12, 14 through 18 and 27 explains this a little.

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The human body has many parts.

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But the many parts make up one whole body, so it is with the Body of Christ.

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Yes, the body has many parts, not just one part.

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If the foot says, I'm not a part of the body because I'm not a hand, that does not make

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it any less a part of the body.

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And if the ear says, I'm not a part of the body because I'm not an eye, would that make

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it any less a part of the body?

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If the whole body were an eye, how could we hear?

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Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

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But our body has many parts, and God has put each one just where He wants it.

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All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.

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So if Jesus is Lord of your life and you are part of God's wonderful masterpiece, the Body

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of Christ, you might think your part is small or unimportant, but it's not.

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It is very important in God's overall plan of redemption.

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To illustrate this point, let's look at the life of Moses.

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And since this podcast is her God story, we're going to look at the women God placed in Moses'

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life.

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Their critical roles in the plan of God to release the children of Israel out of bondage

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struck me recently as my husband and I were reading in the book of Exodus together one

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morning.

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There are several women who played seemingly ordinary roles in Moses' life, but what they

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did had significant spiritual implications in God's plan to use Moses to lead the children

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of Israel out of slavery and right up to the Promised Land.

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Without these women and the good works they each did, Moses would likely not have survived

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to do the good works God had prepared him to do.

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As I share about these women, you'll notice that most live seemingly insignificant lives

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in the grand scheme of history.

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We're not even told the names of several of them until later in Scripture, and one still

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remains unnamed today.

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Four of them were slaves.

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Only one of them ever steps into a leadership role.

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And even though many people would not consider them important, God thinks otherwise.

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He records their deeds in the Bible so their good works will be known and can be emulated

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throughout time.

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If you see yourself insignificant, hopefully their stories will help you see how precious

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and important you are to God, and how you are a part of the masterpiece he's working

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on in our day.

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The first woman God used in Moses' life is unsurprisingly his mother.

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We read in Exodus 2 that a man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married.

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The woman, who's unnamed at this point, has a son, Moses.

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The thing is, they were slaves in Egypt, and Pharaoh had decreed that all male babies born

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to Israelites were to be killed.

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At first, Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives, Shippurah and Pua, to kill baby boys as soon

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as they were born.

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But these two brave women did not obey that ungodly order at risk of their own lives.

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We do not know which of them assisted in Moses' birth, but whichever one it was kept the secret

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of his birth from the Egyptians, they stood against evil, which is one of the good works

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God has called them to do.

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And in doing so, they were used by God to protect Moses when he was most vulnerable.

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So he could fulfill the destiny God had for him.

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Once Pharaoh realized the midwives were not killing the male babies, he ordered the Egyptians

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to throw Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River.

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So Moses' mom, who we later find out is named Jokabed, hid him as any mother would.

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She hid him for three months, but then it was no longer possible to hide him.

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Maybe she had to go back to work as a slave, and her Egyptian overlords would see that

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Moses was a boy.

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Maybe he was louder, and the neighbors were beginning to get curious.

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Whatever the reason, it seems that word got out about baby Moses.

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In her desperation, God gave her an idea.

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She waterproofed a basket, put Moses inside, and laid it in the reeds along the Nile.

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I can only imagine that she intended to go back every chance she could to feed and care

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for him.

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So she left her daughter behind to watch over him from a distance.

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As her daughter, who is also unnamed at this point, watches, she sees Pharaoh's daughter

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discover the basket and Moses inside.

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Pharaoh's daughter knew well her father's edict, that male Hebrew boys were to be killed.

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But she had compassion on Moses.

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When Moses' sister realizes the princess will have mercy on Moses, she creatiously approaches

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and offers to find a nursemaid for the baby.

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Since the princess had not given birth to Moses, she had no way of feeding the child

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herself, but she had decided to adopt him, so the princess readily agreed and sent the

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girl off to get a nursemaid.

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Of course, she comes back with Moses' mother, Jokabed, who was then able to nurture and

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care for Moses openly under the protection of Pharaoh's daughter until he's weaned.

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He's then given back to Pharaoh's daughter, who we can confidently assume made sure he

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received all the education available to the leading figures in the land from the very best

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instructors.

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And based on Moses' actions as an adult, I believe she also passed on her compassionate

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heart to him.

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Nothing is detailed in the Bible about that period in Moses' life, but as he grew into

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manhood, we know he had freedom to go wherever he liked in Egypt, so he was well thought

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of by the Egyptians.

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At least until he killed one of them for beating an Israelite.

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Then Pharaoh wanted his head, and Moses had to flee.

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Moses ended up in Midian, a stranger in a strange land.

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The Midianites thought he was an Egyptian by the way he looked, dressed, and talked.

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And when he saw men harassing some Sheppartuses by the water trough, he came to their aid,

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and he eventually married one of them, Zipporah.

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Zipporah was the daughter of the priest of Midian, Raoel.

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Interestingly, Raoel is the Hebrew word meaning friend of God.

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Based on his daughter's knowledge of God's ways, which I'll explain in a minute, one

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might assume that Raoel was a priest of the Lord our God, not some false God.

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Zipporah and Moses had two sons, and they were living a quiet life together in Midian

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for about 40 years.

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Then God sent Moses back to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery.

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So Moses, Zipporah, and her two sons set out for Egypt.

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However, when they stopped along the way one night, Exodus 424 says, the Lord confronted

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him, that is Moses, and was about to kill him.

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But Zipporah intervened.

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She circumcised her son in accordance with the covenant that God had made with Abraham.

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Somehow she knew the importance of the covenant, even if Moses did not.

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Apparently, Moses missed that lesson when he was growing up under the tutelage of his

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Egyptian teachers.

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So Zipporah interceded for him and took action to put things right.

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I'm sure in the heat of the moment, Moses agreed with anything she was doing if it would

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spare his life.

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That was a real life lesson for Moses he would never forget, thanks to Zipporah and

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her intercession.

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Once the children of Israel were freed from Egypt, he had over a million people looking

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to him for direction, protection, provision of just about everything.

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This generation had never lived in the desert like their forefathers.

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They never governed themselves, and they did not really know the Lord their God, who had

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defeated all the so-called gods of Egypt.

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So the burden and pressure on Moses was immense.

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And while God did raise up some godly men to help in various capacities, once again,

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Moses' sister, who we now learn is Miriam, was at his side as well.

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She became a leader in the community, helping guide the women as Exodus 15, 20, and 21 shows.

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She was a prophetess, who, it seems, provided counsel for many in the camp, including, likely,

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even her brother Moses.

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Micah 6.4 tells us that the Lord raised up Miriam to help Moses.

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And although she was disciplined by the Lord when she criticized Moses at one point, Moses

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found her help indispensable and pleaded with God to heal her.

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And the Lord did.

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God used plenty of men in Moses' life, too, but each of these women played a crucial role

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in God's overarching plan of freeing the Israelites from slavery and bringing them to the Promised

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Land.

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In the beginning, they had no idea God was planning to use Moses in that way.

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But they each did the good work God had called them to do, and God brought his masterful

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plan together into being.

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Jokabed was a caring, nurturing, and protective mother.

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That was God's good work for her in that season.

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She stepped out in faith when she put Moses in the basket in the Nile, and God made a

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way for her to complete the work he'd called her to do.

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Shepra and Pua stood against evil, saving not only Moses' life but undoubtedly other

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young Israelite boys as well.

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Even Pharaoh's daughter played a role.

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She likely had no concept of who the true God was, but God had given her a compassionate

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heart which allowed her to also be used to protect Moses.

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And see that he received the education he would eventually need to lead the people out

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of slavery and form them into a nation.

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Zopora was a caring wife and mother who followed Moses in faith to Egypt and interceded for

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his life and his destiny.

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And Miriam obeyed her mother when she was young and courageously approached a powerful

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adversary with a solution to her problem.

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She played the advocate which allowed Moses to be cared for by his mother and developed

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some affinity to his own people.

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Then many years later, Miriam stepped in to his side again, speaking prophetic words and

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counsel that supported Moses as he led the children of Israel through the desert to the

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Promised Land.

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They all played an important part, just like parts of a body working together, even though

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they probably did not understand it at that time or in that way.

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They each had a role in God's plan and he created a masterpiece that we still remember

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and learn from today.

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But each of us also has a role in the masterpiece God is creating in our day.

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He still needs those who are willing to be nurturing and protective of the vulnerable,

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those who will stand strong against evil, those who will raise up the next generation

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with compassion, those who will intercede and teach others God's ways, those who will

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courageously offer solutions to challenging problems and lead with integrity and wisdom,

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and so many others who do unique roles God has expertly equipped them to do.

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Do you see yourself in any of those roles?

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Or maybe another?

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If not seek the Lord and continue to do the small daily good works he's called you to

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do.

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And as you look back over this year and over your life, you'll see how God has used them

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in his masterpiece to do something magnificent.

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God has a place for you in his masterpiece.

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Just say yes to his plan.

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I said yes to God's plan years ago when I was in graduate school.

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He asked me to get involved in reaching the children of a low income community nearby.

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I did not want to go at first.

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I had no desire whatsoever.

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But as I hesitantly stepped out in obedience, God changed my heart and the trajectory of

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my life, taking me around the world to provide humanitarian aid and the gospel to people who

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desperately need to know a tangible expression of his love.

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What will he do with your yes?

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Let me pray with you.

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Heavenly Father, you are our Creator God and you are doing a great work in our times.

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And I join with the Apostle Paul's prayer from Colossians 1, 9-11, and I ask you to fulfill

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our dear listening friends with the knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding

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that the Spirit gives so that they may live a life worthy of you, God, and please you in

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every way.

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May they bear fruit in every good work.

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May they grow in the knowledge of God.

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May they be strengthened with all power according to your glorious might so that they may have

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great endurance and patience and joyfully give thanks to you, Father, because you have qualified

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us to share in the great inheritance you have in store for your holy people.

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And Father, as they move forward this year, may they see your hand at work on their behalf

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in new and remarkable ways that bring the breakthroughs and freedom they need to fully

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engage in all you have for them.

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It's in Jesus' name I pray and I thank you, Father, that you hear and answer our prayers.

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Amen.

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You know, dear friends, there are other widows like Lois as well as orphans all over the

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world who need to experience that tangible expression of God's love right now.

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Many have special needs that we as a company of women can meet together.

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Maybe this is one of the good works God's calling you to be a part of.

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I urge you to prayerfully consider what he's asking you to do.

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James 1.27 tells us that pure religion in the sight of God means caring for the orphans

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and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

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This might be a first step for you.

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Would you join us with a special gift to help?

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Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the Widow and Orphan tab at the top of the page.

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Thank you for tuning in.

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In our show notes at hergodstory.org you'll find scriptures and other information we talked

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about.

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You can also get a six-week devotional on Women of the Bible to download for free.

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It'll be a great way to start your year.

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Or you may want to purchase the 12-week devotional for just $12 knowing that all the proceeds

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will go to our Widow and Orphan fund.

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We'd love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line.

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Call us anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

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And now dear friends, I bless you today from Jeremiah 2911.

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May you know the plans God has for you, his good plans to give you a future and a hope.

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Happy New Year!

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Hergodstory is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.